Six months after meeting at the Taste of Chicago, Lil Lampert and Grier Dilorio are living together. Their physical bond glows brighter than ever, but the couple soon realizes that it takes more than three magic words and outstanding sex to make a partnership work.

Like any fledgling, Grier is learning how to navigate his new life. His problems should have ended when Jillian signed the papers acknowledging him as Luca’s biological father and he got the opportunity to pursue a career in interior design. Instead, he’s hampered by old fears and bad habits that are hard to let go.

Adjusting to a small apartment in a four-season state – with a much younger man sporting a stubborn streak – is a challenge for Lil. His position as Luca’s “Daddio” is a delicate balancing act between doing what he thinks is right and deferring to Grier’s eight years of experience.

Life is stressed enough, but now Lil and Grier also face an unexpected complication from a powerful, far-reaching ruling body. Suddenly Luca’s safety – and their happiness as an emerging family – depends on Lil’s keen understanding of human nature and Grier’s willingness to learn.

Mickie B. Ashling is the alter-ego of a multifaceted woman raised by a single mother on a steady diet of melodrama and trashy romance novels. By the time she discovered her own talent for writing, real life had intruded, and the business of earning a living and raising four sons took priority. With the advent of e-publishing and the inevitable emptying nest, dreams were resurrected, and the storyteller was reborn.

She stumbled into the world of men who love men in 2002 and continues to draw inspiration from their ongoing struggle to find equality and happiness in this oftentimes skewed and intolerant world. Her award winning novels have been called “gut wrenching, daring, and thought provoking.” She admits to being an angst queen and making her men work damn hard for their happy endings.

Mickie loves to travel and has lived in the Philippines, Spain, and the Middle East but currently resides in a suburb outside Chicago. You can find out more about Mickie at her website.

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